Ninjago High: Loners
by Life That Is Not Yet Full
Summary: Morro has some friend troubles at school. Cryptor tries to help.


"Hey, Morro!"

Morro jumped, and turned, slamming his locker shut with exasperation when he saw who it was.

"Jeez, Kai, you scared the hell out of me!"

"So what?" Kai leaned against the row of lockers. "You joining us after-school to check out the game store? It just opened."

Morro shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see."

Kai grimaced and turned to leave. "You aren't any fun."

Morro sighed and reopened his locker. In truth, he had no intentions of joining Kai and his friends. They didn't really include him in on their jokes and conversations. Really, he only hung out with them because he didn't fit in with everyone else.

"Hi Morro," a voice suddenly cut in.

Morro turned, stuffing a book into his bag. "Oh, hi Cryptor. Long time, no see."

Cryptor was an AI that was modeled after one of Kai's friends, Zane, who was also an AI. He didn't particularly like Zane, but mostly talked about and with him in good nature. Morro found him to be a bit different at times. Cryptor didn't understand metaphors or popular saying, and some of the time, emotions. The only thing close to emotion that Morro had ever seen Cryptor express was confusion or calmness. Sometimes, the AI expressed anger, but the reason why was beyond Morro . For the most part, however, Cryptor acted exactly like a human, and that was what creeped Morro out the most.

"You as well," Cryptor replied. "What happened while I was gone?"

Morro hesitated. Cryptor, due to some guys with iron baseball bats, had been out of commision for the past few days. It was a touchy subject for most of the kids at the school. Morro actually hadn't seen the fight himself, but he heard from Kai and the others that Cryptor actually managed to fight back and sustained injuries that would have killed a normal person before the fight was over.

"Nothing much," he replied. "Except homework. You know how that is."

Cryptor nodded, his eyes darting here and there along the hallway, noticing some kids standing near a classroom door, watching him warily. "Why doesn't anyone look happy to see me?"

"Well..." Morro was at loss for words. "You know, when the fight happened...?"

"Yes?"

"Well, for most people, they assumed you were human, and after the fight..."

Cryptor's eyes widened. "It disproved their theory after I was beaten up," he finished.

"Uh... yeah." The fight had more than 'disproved their theory'. It had completely demolished it. Morro had actually seen Cryptor as the crowd surrounding the scuffle dispersed. He had much of his inner workings showing, and one of his arms was missing entirely. The fact that he was sparking from his wires didn't help either. Morro had known Cryptor was an AI, courtesy of Zane, but doubted it until he saw the after-effects.

"You, uh, changed your image," he changed the subject quickly.

"Yeah," Cryptor inspected his arm, the one that had been blown off and replaced with a silver one. "They made a few changes."

"A few?"

Cryptor shrugged. "Maybe more than a few."

More than a few was correct. Not only had his arm been remade, his eyes were red and glowing. One eye had been taken out and replaced with a metal circle jutting out slightly from his face. It had three red dots within its center, and was connected to him by metal strips wrapping halfway around his head.

"More than a few?" Morro repeated. "You had literally half your body replaced!"

Cryptor shrugged. "More like 23.5%," he corrected, "and it was only replaced to help me defend better."

"Defend who? Yourself?"

"No. Defend others who get into the same situation. They would not survive an attack like that."

"No kidding." Morro hefted his bag. "What class do you have?"

"Science," Cryptor replied. "You?"

"Math," Morro stated with a groan. "You know, it wouldn't hurt to try to get close with some other people who think you're not that bad. You need friends."

"So do you," Cryptor replied.

Morro froze. To think those thoughts himself was one thing. To hear them said out loud by someone else, especially an android, was another.

"No, I don't," he spat and turned to walk away.

"I am being honest," Cryptor called after him. "Kai and the others are not going to stand with you for long. How long do you think it will take before they leave you behind?"

"Go to hell," Morro yelled back and marched away.

As much as he wanted to forget the argument he had with Cryptor, the words the AI had said rang through Morro's head throughout the day. _Kai and the others aren't going to stand with you for long._

"Shut up," he told himself as he walked back to his locker at the end of the day. "It won't happen."

"What won't happen?" a voice asked.

Morro turned to find Jay, another one of Kai's friends standing behind him.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"Woah," Jay put his hands up in mock surrender. "I was only asking you a question."

"Doesn't matter," Morro muttered, turning back to his locker.

"Okay," Jay grinned awkwardly. "Cool. So, are you joining us? Kai probably told you earlier what we are doing this afternoon. Want to come?"

Morro shrugged, balancing a stack of books on his hand while he fumbled his locker open. "I don't know yet," he lied, "I have lots of homework."

Jay frowned slightly. "Okay then," he replied. "You know you can come find us if you finish early."

With that, he sauntered away, humming lightly. Morro watched him leave. _How long do you think it will take before they leave you behind?_

Morro shut his locker. "Get it together, Morro," he told himself. "You have friends, they just don't really take you into account."

 _You need friends._ Morro growled in frustration, stomping his way down the empty hallway. _How long do you think it will take before they leave you behind?_ He would figure this out once he was outside. He really needed to cool down. _You need friends._

Morro burst outside, with an air of getting out of the building before any other memories of the morning clouded his head. He was so focused in leaving that he nearly ran over Cryptor.

"Sorry," he mumbled, gathering his things and preparing to take off again, before he saw that the AI was holding a metal detachment. It took a moment for Morro to realize that it was his eye mechanism. "What happened?"

Cryptor looked over at him, the eye socket glaring darkness. His face was dented in the left cheek and his clothing was ripped. "Some guys jumped me after class. Said something about being a freak and a useless nobody. They said I should be scrapped, and when I tried to leave, they jumped me. I think you were right about me needing to have friends. I only said those things because I was upset. I do not know how to 'make friends' and I lashed out at you for my own stupid reasons. I apologize if I made you upset."

Morro shook his head. "It's okay," he replied. "I got mad at you because it was true what you said."

Cryptor frowned. "Speaking of that, how _do_ you 'make friends'? Everyone attending this school knows I am an android and I am reluctant to join Zane's group of friends."

Morro shrugged. "I don't know. If I did, I would do so at the drop of a hat."

Cryptor tilted his head. "I am afraid I do not know what that means."

Morro sighed. "It means I would do it immediately."

"Oh. Well then, I guess that we are, what you call, 'loners'."

"Yeah," Morro admitted. "I guess we are. I mean, my real friends don't go to this school. Without them, I'm kinda alone."

"Unless..."

Morro blinked. "You seriously are thinking this?"

Cryptor responded with a shrug. "There is nothing else for us to do. Otherwise you are stuck with Kai."

"Good point," Glancing once more at the eye in Cryptor hand, he gestured to it. "Are you going to put that back on or is it damaged...?"

Cryptor looked rather surprised at the object in his hand, like he'd forgotten about it. "It is broken. One of those kids who attacked me had a pencil, for a reason I do not understand. He shoved it into my eye, and used it to pry off the whole attachment."

"Oh...okay." Morro's awkwardness was rather apparent. "I, uh, I guess I'll go now."

Cryptor nodded. "As long as you don't go to the game store."

"How did you-"

"I'm an android," Cryptor gave Morro a genuine smile, though it still looked disturbing without his eye. "I could hear you and Kai talking long before I even saw you."

"I'm not going," Morro decided.

"Good choice." Cryptor turned his attention back down at the part in his hand and started walking down to the sidewalk. "By the way, if you change your mind about us being friends, do tell me soon. I would rather know sooner than later."

"I'm not going to," Morro replied. "I think we've had enough trouble in our lives to know better than to not have friends. If those guys corner you again, tell me."

"I don't think I will," Cryptor responded. "I can take care of myself, and you would say the same thing about yourself as well."

"I hate it when you do that."

Cryptor laughed, the sound strange to Morro's ears. " _Ja-ne_ , Morro."

Morro smiled. "See you around."


End file.
